Friday, December 14, 2018

Everyone's got an opinion. I'm sort of over everyone critiquing everything as if they were Pauline Kael. And this year has been full of way too many serials -- a year of Laura Lippman, Alafair Burke, Mo Hayder. But I wanted to add to my body of favorites...for the historical record as it is. Here goes!For Younger Readers

Monday's Not Coming (Katherine Tegen, 2018) by Tiffany D. JacksonTotally transporting and a little mind-bending, this slide of D.C. life deserves a lot more love. I've got my fingers crossed for midwinter.

Sunburn (Harper Collins, 2018) by Laura LippmanTop-notch noir in an out-of-season Maryland beach town. I have read it three times already. The nods to James M. Cain are triumphant. It led me into the world of Tess Monaghan, and now I spend as much time thinking about Baltimore as Alabama.

Bluebird, Bluebird (Little Brown, 2017) by Attica LockeFaulkner-worthy Southern communities with twisty, intergenerational and interracial relationships? Yes, please. I was late to this party, but Locke is stellar. This one is my favorite of hers.

#FashionVictim (Crooked Lane, 2018) by Amina AkhtarThis book could have been frothy social media satire, but there was just enough Patrick Bateman-y rage and truth in the shifting sands of Anya's relationships to make it stand out.

The Woman at 72 Derry Lane (Harper Collins, 2017) by Carmel HarringtonI read a lot of frothy, soapy women's fiction, but this one has just enough intrigue, with its backdrop of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand and intergenerational support, to stick with me. Health, Mental and Physical